Anna Atkins
Anna Atkins was born in 16 march 1799-9 june 1871. She was an english botanist and photographer. In October 1843 she was the first person to publish a book of photographs and she was one of the first female photographers. She used cyanotype process for her plant photography.
She discovered the cyanotype process after meeting the British inventor Fox Talbot. Atkins neighbour was the astronomer Sir John Herschel and it was he who discovered, in 1842, that when exposed to UV light (i.e. sun) a paper soaked a with a complex iron salt solution captured a blue “negative” image, once the salts had been rinsed away. For obvious reasons, Herschel named these prints Cyanotypes or blueprints.
She discovered the cyanotype process after meeting the British inventor Fox Talbot. Atkins neighbour was the astronomer Sir John Herschel and it was he who discovered, in 1842, that when exposed to UV light (i.e. sun) a paper soaked a with a complex iron salt solution captured a blue “negative” image, once the salts had been rinsed away. For obvious reasons, Herschel named these prints Cyanotypes or blueprints.
Cyanotypes
The cyanotype is a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print. It is an image made by placing objects directly onto a surface made up of two chemicals: ammonium iron and potassium ferricyanide and exposing it directly into the sun.
What are the advantages of cyanotypes?
The cyanotype process is relatively cheap and easy to use. A wide range of surfaces can be coated with the mixture of chemicals and you don't need a darkroom or any complicated equipment. Perhaps this is why artists are still using the process, sometimes to make quite large and unusual photographs.
What are the advantages of cyanotypes?
The cyanotype process is relatively cheap and easy to use. A wide range of surfaces can be coated with the mixture of chemicals and you don't need a darkroom or any complicated equipment. Perhaps this is why artists are still using the process, sometimes to make quite large and unusual photographs.
This is a cyanotype i made by putting quite heavy objects onto the paper. This created a clear negative shapes making a quite strong composition. You can see the outline of the shapes where the light has hit. This could have been improved if I had left it in the sun a little while longer.
|
This is a cyanotype that isn't very clear.
You can just see a light shape of it. This was created by putting light objects so the light didn't have direct contact with the objects and the paper. This could be improved by leaving it in the light for a longer time and not moving the objects. |